Save Him If You Can
by Jade Took of the Shire
Summary: Written by myself and HaloGatomon. When Aragorn is captured by orcs, nothing will be ever be the same. For Aragorn, he must endure months of endless torture to survive; for his family and friends it's a race against time to find and save him.


Title ~ Save Him If You Can  
  
Authors ~ Halo Son and Jade Took  
  
Rating ~ R  
  
Disclaimer ~ Halo and I do not own LOTR, nope we don't.  
  
Summary ~ When Aragorn is captured by orcs on what was meant to be a routine hunting trip, nothing will ever be the same again. For Aragorn it becomes a desperate struggle to survive the endless torture, anguish and despair for months; for his family and friends it becomes a race against time to save the young human from torment and death. But even if he is rescused from death, it may be too late to save his shattered spirit.  
  
Feedback ~ Yes, Halo and I like feedback! Please send all feedback to trunks_angel_halo@hotmail.com or jadetook@yahoo.co.uk  
  
Dedications ~ To Cassia and Sio for their awesome Mellon Chronicles series. To Trin and Lina Skye for being the most dedicated (and craziest ^_~) Aragorn fans we know. To Rosalyn Angel for being the greatest Haldir lover we know. To Zam cause she's Lina's sister. To Nili and The Insane One for being dedicated reviewers of Halo's stories. To everyone who reads this fic cause...your reading it! ^-^!  
  
WARNING ~ This story is VERY dark and angst filled and rated R because it contains accounts of torture, violence, intense situations and implied rape. If these themes upset or disturb you, please DO NOT read this story. All flames will be fed to Roland, our pet Balrog, and all flamers will be handed over to Trin who will personally dispose of them.  
This story mainly focuses on Aragorn, but other characters are in this story and they include: Legolas, Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel, Gandalf, Haldir, Galadriel, Celeborn and a few made up characters; even the fellowship make an appearence or two.  
Save Him If You Can  
By Halo Son and Jade Took  
Chapter 1 ~ The Tale Begins  
Haldir's ears twitched as two hushed voices reached him, speaking in the elvish tongue. A small smug-like smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he recognised the voices. Shifting into a more comfortable position from where he leaned upon one of the silver Lothlorien trees, listening in to the conversation and not giving any thought to that fact he was evesdropping, for to him he was doing nothing of the sort.  
  
"Gandalf was a comforting presence to us all Aragorn."  
  
"Aye I know Legolas, but he was such to me I could keep control."  
  
"You are not losing control."  
  
Haldir's eyebrows furrowed and he bit on his lower lip, listening now even more intently to indentify if the raven haired man and elf prince were speaking of what he guessed they were.  
  
"You are not the one who has to keep it from surfacing!" Aragorn hissed under his breath, stealing a glance at the hollow where the hobbits were laying. "Ever since those months I have had to face what happened and deal with what has become of me. In Gandalf's presence it did not become so difficult to hold, but now he has fallen..."  
  
Legolas placed a firm hand upon Aragorn's shoulder.  
  
"I are here for you Estel, I can help you if you will let me."  
  
Aragorn exhaled heavily before looking back into Legolas' shinning blue eyes and with a soft smile he shook his head.  
  
"Very well, you wish to help me then you may." Aragorn's eyes turned instantly serious. "If I should lose control and be lost to an 'attack', I wish for you to tell the fellowship."  
  
Legolas' eyes widened and unknown to them so did Haldir's.  
  
"That is madness Aragorn!"  
  
"Is it? With Gandalf's passing my barriers are breaking and my mind weakening. What should happen if I fall in front of them? What should happen if I become trapped in darkness during a battle?"  
  
"We can tell them another reason! Why trouble an already troubled fellowship with yet another reason to worry?"  
  
"They are already worried Legolas." Aragorn turned his head round this time and caught the hobbits in his eyes, Boromir and Gimli too were nearby. "I can see it in their eyes. They know something is amiss and they see it in my own eyes. You cannot hide the truth from them, they deserve to know."  
  
"But Aragorn..."  
  
"Legolas, please, just do as I ask should the time come."  
  
The elf prince sighed and reluctantly agreed.  
  
"Very well mellon nin."  
  
Aragorn smiled and briefly clasped Legolas' shoulder before turning and walking back to the hollow. Legolas eyed his retreating back for a moment before following behind the man with pursed lips and frowning eyes.  
  
Haldir remained in his place still hidden behind the tree.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Pippin wasn't known for waking up during the middle of the night. Usually the young hobbit was a heavy sleeper and nothing other than the refreshing smell of food being prepared to eat and the occassional nightmare could wake him.  
  
But sleep twas to meant to be this night. Pippin opened bleary eyes and waited until they came into focus before looking around, attempting to find out why he had awoken. It didn't take long for him to find it.  
  
The youngest hobbit blinked innocently and worry filled his eyes when he spotted Aragorn sitting up against the side of hollow they were sleeping in. The man appeared to be shaking as if he was cold. Pippin tilted his head slightly before crawling towards the man, accidently knocking his knee into Merry's arm.  
  
Merry yelped, instantly brought back into the waking world and narrowed his eyes, rubbing his arm in the process.  
  
"Pip?!" He hissed to his cousin. "What are you..."  
  
"Shh." Pippin replied, turning his worried eyes on Merry. The older cousin's eyebrows furrowed and he crawled up next to Pippin.  
  
"What's wrong Pip?"  
  
Pippin pointed at Aragorn and Merry arched an eyebrow in concern at the shaking man.  
  
"Strider?" Merry tried to wake the man, believing him to be caught in a nightmare. "Strider? Can you hear me?"  
  
Merry and Pippin suddenly yelped aloud in alarm as Aragorn cried out, jerking suddenly and sliding to the ground. The startled cries of the hobbits alerted the others, jumping into sitting positions and looking around wildly.  
  
"Merry! Merry, what is wrong with him?!" Pippin cried, grabbing his cousin's arm in distress.  
  
"I...I do not know." Merry replied with a shakey voice.  
  
Legolas was behind both hobbits in the blink of an eye, looking down at Aragorn with wide eyes.  
  
"Get back!" The elf demanded, kneeling down behind Aragorn's head as the man started thrashing wildly. "Boromir!"  
  
At the sound of his name, the steward of Gondor was next to Legolas, looking at him with confusion yet determined eyes.  
  
"Hold his arms down." Legolas instructed and gave a brief nod of his head as Boromir did as the elf asked, his golden hair cascading over his shoulders as he leaned forward and placed his hands upon the raven haired man's face and began whispering comforting nothings in elvish.   
  
The hobbits sat together, watching what was happening with wide and frightened eyes, Gimli just beside them.  
  
After a few agonizing moments the fit began to die down and Aragorn's body lurched upwards before falling down limp, eyes lightly closed and mouth slightly ajar. Legolas let his cheek hover over Aragorn's mouth, checking he was still breathing and sighed in relief when he felt breath pass between the man's lips.  
  
Boromir sat back on his knees, only just registering a joint sigh from all four hobbits. He pursed his lips and turned narrowed eyes at the elf.  
  
"What just happened?"  
  
Legolas didn't look up at first, battling inner conflicts over Aragorn's request.   
  
He had told the elf to tell them if this happened and it had...but did not wish to tell the fellowship. Twas not because he felt they had no right to know, but the memory was a painful one for the elf, for he had had to see this man he called his friend reduced to almost a shell of his former self; to nothing but a new play toy for orcs and worse.   
  
A raw anger boiled in Legolas' chest at the mere thought of rememberence on how he had found Aragorn, hanging from chains bloody and every square inch of his body decorated with horrid bruising and swelling; cuts and gashes, some small and some big. The elf unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists, digging his fingernails into the skin of his palm hard enough to draw blood.  
  
"Legolas!" Boromir snapped, rising his voice to snap the elf from his thoughts. "Tell us what is happening to Aragorn! I know you know what is wrong, I see the anger in your eyes. Now tell us, what is wrong with Aragorn?"  
  
"Everything is wrong with him." A new voice entered the conversation. "It has been ever since that day."  
  
The fellowship turned around as one and saw a flash of soft golden hair as Haldir entered the hollow, focusing his eyes upon Legolas.  
  
"You? You know too?"  
  
Haldir ignored Boromir's accusation, "Now is the time to tell them Legolas, twas what Estel asked of you."  
  
"You-you heard?" Legolas asked, surprised tinting his voice.  
  
Haldir brandished that almost smug smile of his once more. "Aye, that I did." He walked further into the hollow and sat down by Aragorn's feet, leaning back against the hollow's wall and crossing his arms. "If you do not wish to tell them, I shall do so in your place." The Lorien elf offered.  
  
"Nay Haldir." Legolas replied with a grateful smile at him. "I will tell them, twas I whom Aragorn asked to speak of what happened."  
  
The fellowship had now arranged themselves closer to Legolas, the hobbits in particular wishing to hear whatever Legolas had to say. The elf prince sighed.  
  
"Where to start..."  
  
"The beginning would be nice." Pippin said honestly.  
  
Legolas chuckled and shook his head a little, his hair briefly shimmering in the silver light radiating through out Lothlorien. "Aye, that indeed would be a good place to start Peregrin, yet I am not sure where the begining starts, for there is no end to this tale."  
  
Pippin's eyes slitted a little in cofusion, but kept quiet and was ready to listen. Legolas unexpectedly narrowed his eyes as the fellowship and almost scowled.  
  
"Do you know what it is like to know one of your most treasured friends has been inslaved by orcs and fouler creatures of Mordor? Do you know what it is like to stand simply waiting while that friend is being tortured and tormented and beaten? Do you know what it is like to feel completely and utterly helpless as that friend is slowly being broken piece by piece and you can do naught to stop it? Do you know what it is like?"  
  
The hobbit's eyes were almost as wide as saucers as Pippin and Merry simuntaniously shook their heads while Boromir and Gimli's eyes narrowed. Legolas kept the same deadly expression upon his face as he began to tell the tale of what had happened to Aragorn to cause him to have a fit as such as he had, right from the very beginning.  
  
"I had to suffer such, though Aragorn was the one who suffered far worse, worse than any words in any language could describe. He was the one they broke, he was the one who had to endure months of endless torture at their hands, and he was the one who has to live with those memories...forever."  
  
And the tale began...  
TBC... 


End file.
